The Smithsonian Institution has an incredible number of items in its vaults that many never see. The Smithsonian Institution releases photos of several of their warehoused items. On Valentine’s Day, the Smithsonian released a photo of the first plastic heart. That first synthetic heart beat for three full days. This kind of medical technology no doubt took a huge personal loan to produce.

Start of plastic heart

The first plastic heart ever to be implanted in a human being was installed in 1969. The plastic heart was developed by Dr. Domingo Liotta and implanted by Dr. Denton A. Cooley. Dr. Cooley commandeered the plastic heart from Dr. Liotta’s lab and implanted it without approval. The patient’s plastic heart beat for 3 days and nights before a human transplant heart was found. A trend started with the plastic heart. This was after the patient perished, even with the human heart. Pictures of the plastic heart were unveiled on St. Valentine’s Day by the Smithsonian Institution which is where it now resides.

Transplants of plastic hearts being evolved

In 1969, the first “plastic” heart got implanted. The Food and Drug Administration did not approve it until 2004 though. The first viable plastic heart transplant that beat for a long time was evolved in 1982. It was called the Jarvick-7. In 2004, the plastic heart was approved to be a temporary replacement. Another transplant is done once a human heart is found. In 2006, the FDA approved a permanent plastic heart transplant, the AbioCor Implantable Replacement Heart. A 13-pound device in a backpack is needed in order to keep a plastic heart going. Annually, it is maintained on $18,000.

Can a self-contained heart happen?

There is still a dream for a plastic heart. The dream started in 1969 though. Plastic hearts are accessible to keep someone alive. Still, heavy equipment and maintenance is needed for it. Between the 3-day plastic heart and the 13 pound backpack heart, there were 30 years. That means that it may be decades before a self-contained heart is created even though researchers are working on it.

Articles cited

News Desk

newsdesk.si.edu/snapshot/liotta-cooley-artificial-heart

New York Times

nytimes.com/2007/11/27/health/27docs.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=denton%20cooley&st=cse

American Heart Association

americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4444